Education Association honors Ferron teacher, Arch Coal

The Utah Education Association (UEA) honored 10 teachers from around the state with its Excellence in Teaching awards and presented Arch Coal with an Honor Roll award at its Superstars in Education banquet last week.

Among the honored teachers was LuAnn Sorensen, a special education preschool teacher at Ferron Elementary School in the Emery County School District.

In addition to recognizing outstanding educators like Sorensen, the UEA presented an Honor Roll award to Arch Coal for its demonstrated commitment to Utah schools and teachers.

Arch Coal and its foundation sponsor the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards program and the UEA Excellence in Teaching awards as well as supporting several programs for Utah's schools and youth, said UEA Execu- tive Director Mark Mickelsen.

Wess Sorensen, general manager of the Skyline mine in Helper, received the award on behalf of Arch Coal. Wess Sorensen and LuAnn Sorensen are not related.

"Arch Coal, through the Arch Coal Foundation, is now in its seventh year of honoring Utah teachers with Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards," Mickelsen said. "Five teachers each year in Carbon, Emery, Sanpete and Sevier counties have been given $3,500 personal cash awards.

"Arch Coal has demonstrated its commitment to public education and to Utah teachers through its ongoing efforts and truly exemplifies the statement that education excellence is everyone's responsibility," he added.

Excellence in Teaching award recipients are nominated by their peers and chosen based on their work with individual students or groups of students. Each winner received an award and a check for $1,500, courtesy of the Arch Coal Foundation.

State Sen. Aaron Osmond also received an Honor Roll award, and a Charles E. Bennett Human and Civil Rights award was presented to Dr. Forrest Crawford, Weber State University assistant to the president for diversity.

The UEA has sponsored the Excellence in Teaching awards since 2000. This is the Arch Coal Foundation's second year as title sponsor for the awards. Key Bank sponsored the banquet.

For more than a century, the Utah Education Association has been dedicated to preserving and en- hancing Utah public education. The UEA is the largest public education employee association in Utah, representing more than 18,000 active classroom teachers, retired educators, administrators, licensed edu- cational support personnel and campus student organizations. The UEA has local affiliates in each of the state's 41 school districts, Applied Technology Colleges, and the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.